All Church
Retreat 2005...
Many
Stories, One Community
The
sharing of stories, the creating of memories, the
weaving of baskets, the sound of laughter, the playing
of games, the giving of hugs, and the building of
community. On the weekend of Oct 7-9, some members and
friends of Suquamish UCC gathered at Pilgrim Firs for
the annual church retreat. It was a wonderful
celebration of our individuality and our connection to
each other.
Friday
evening was spent settling into the camp. Scrabble was
played, conversations were had, cards were read, palms
were read (thanks Aiya), teasing about the Trivial
Pursuit game began, marbles were shot across the floor,
teens gathered in the cabin, folks trekked the paths
together to avoid “the bears” and food was shared.
Saturday
brought us a beautiful lady named Kayla who taught the
group how to basket weave. She wove the story of her
life and struggles into our minds as she wove a basket
for us. It was so fascinating to watch her weave, then
to see how she engaged everyone from the youngest child
to the oldest adult in making baskets. Even self
proclaimed “non-crafters” like Jane were going out and
getting moss to weave into their baskets. Sue’s son
Stewart seemed to have a natural ability to weave and
quickly created a cool basket. The youth wove colorful
and creative baskets, Emma was a real speed weaver and
made at least three baskets. Natalie, Tom, Michael and
Deborah wanted a more difficult challenge and started
with a complicated basket weave. There was something
for everyone.
In
the afternoon, after they finally dragged the group from
the basket weaving space, we headed to the Fireplace in
the Lodge and gathered to watch a video called Trust
Me. It was a powerful documentary about a group of 10
Muslim, 10 Jewish and 10 Christian boys who were brought
together after September 11th
to learn about each other at a camp. It was moving to
see how intentional interaction helped to change the way
the boys and the staff interacted with one another and
really formed community.
After
the video we shared stories of Suquamish UCC. We were
happy to welcome several members of the church who came
out just for the day, Virginia, Barbara, Tom, Hilda,
Sally, Audrey, and Suzanne P. Virginia and Barbara
remembered forming a group of young women at the church
years ago and they almost called themselves the
Jezebelle’s. Ask them what they named their group, some
of whom still meet to this day. We heard how Hilda
never considered herself a Christian and how she went
through a range of experiences to get to the UCC. Some
folks came to the church for their families, some for
jobs, some to try to find a spiritual home, and all to
find community. Ask folks to share some additional
stories, there are some really interesting things to
hear about. To finish the afternoon we worked together
to form a new weaving that is proudly displayed at
church next to the one that was created years ago.
Saturday
evening brought the sounds of victory and cries of
defeat. I am happy to announce the women are the proud
victors of this year’s game, despite the elaborate
mind-blocking ritual performed by the men (ask Vicki and
Doug about the video of this). During the game Royal
laughed so hard the game was stopped for several
minutes, Carol Anne actually told Royal to shut up!
Cindy was in rare question-answering form and everyone
had fun participating. It was a glorious event.
On
Sunday, we wrapped up the event, songs were sung (led by
Aiya’s beautiful voice), and folks cleaned up the place
and some of us headed home to crash on our couches and
beds to rest up for the week and some headed out to
fulfill duties. We want to extend a special thanks to
Deeg and Debe Nelson for hosting us at Pilgrim Firs.
What a beautiful setting and we felt very welcomed, the
food was yummy, the program was wonderful and the place
looks great! Join us next year for the fun!
